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Monday, August 3, 2020

Enjoy Your Staycation + Giveaway

*Compensated affiliate links used where possible at zero cost to you. No posts are ever sponsored or paid.*

I think that my sister and I have some sort of pandemic gene. We are both gardeners and feel like there's never going to be enough time for us to try out all the arty things we want to do. If choosing between a party or a dinner out and trying a new recipe at home and  making something with our hands, we are going to choose the latter. I have never (outside of meetings - you know how I feel about meetings), if left to my own devices, felt boredom in my life.

Part of that is probably growing up in the 70s - a freer time for children, I think, where we were alone a lot more than kids are alone now - and part of it was not having a TV, which I essentially still do not. So me, my sister and brother have been in charge of our own entertainment our whole lives. 

At the beginning of this whole thing, and even more so now, I've been a little puzzled by people's reaction to being "stuck at home," only because it's my favorite place to be. It's literally a retreat center LOL. 

So this month's Hero Arts Kit is so incredibly sweet and perfect for both my home-dwelling heart and people who are learning to love, appreciate and improve their homes under the current situation. I have loved watching my friends learn to garden and try new recipes, explore the trails near home and more. I think all of that will change us all for the good in the end and reset the "frantic" timer just a bit, and I'm not gonna lie - that makes me happy. 

The main kit could not be more perfect - every image in it is something someone loves about their home - pets, furniture, food, books - it's wonderful. 

I have a video for you on this first card, so I won't belabor the details, but it's a fun hack for masking with die cuts to make your image pop. I used Inkadinkado masking paper, Pool Party and Lemon Drop Inks, the Tile Pattern Stencil and the main kit


Here's what the main kit looks like - and SQUEE - it comes with postcards! 
I LOVE the greetings - and the Greetings From die word die included in the kit is stunning. 
This one will sell out fast, I think. 

Here is the video on my card - I think you'll love the die cutting idea. Come back for more!




Next up - the stay-at-home add-ons! The August word die - I LOVE this series - is my birthday die! I cut that out of vellum and used my invisible vellum tape to adhere it to my card. The strip on the right I stamped with this fabulous travel tag background that's all about in-house destinations, like the sofa! Ha! I stamped it in Caramel on kraft cardstock, and then stamped it again in black on white cardstock and colored and cut out the images and placed them on the kraft strip. The shapes are so simple it's a great stamp for fussy cutting. The little location icon is repeated throughout this release. So perfect. 



Now my FAVORITE ephemera in the world is old maps! I have several large atlases from my map-loving dad that I use on cards frequently. I had to learn to read maps early in life, because we hit the road every summer, and unlike your iPhone, your paper map doesn't tell you where to go while you're driving, so we all had to be the navigator at some point. I'm really grateful for this knowledge because I have an astonishing number of friends who don't know the compass points - it baffles me! If you grew up on a prairie like I did, you'd darn better well know north from south. 

So I made a card for my friend Libby at Hero Arts, who has been sending me the most fun crime scene puzzles! She used to live here in Austin, and I miss her a lot, so this is perfect. I used the same background as in the card above, stamped in Caramel on kraft. Then I used these FANTASTIC US nesting dies - I used the second largest one - to cut out a portion of the Austin map from my atlas. I used the sentiment and dies from this stamp & cut set with glitter paper to complete this simple card. 


Now to complete the release that is straight out of my childhood, they included a tie dye set! OMG. It's a layering set that doesn't need to be lined up, and I stamped it in Hello Yellow, Poppin' Pink and Orange Glow Electro Pop Ink. These were designed to go with the fun new nesting T-shirt dies, pictured below. 


Now as usual, you can get all the add-ons at a discount - here they all are. Check out Lounging Pups!! It's all so great this month.


Here are all the supplies I used today, and as usual, they are giving away a $50 shopping spree to a lucky commenter! Enter by August 9, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Blog HERE the following week! I have linked to tons more inspiration from their talented team below. Leave them some love!

Hero Arts August 2020 My Monthly Hero...
[ HA ]
Hero Arts August 2020 Get The All...
[ HA ]
SA114 Tile Pattern Stencil 6x6 - Hero...
[ HA ]
Hero Arts August Word Fancy Die
[ HA ]
Destination Home Bold Prints
[ HA ]
Tie Dye
[ HA ]
US Map Infinity Dies
[ HA ]
Hero Arts Greetings From Stamp & Cut
[ HA ]
Camp Mi Casa
[ HA ]
Hero Arts Camp Mi Casa Frame Cuts
[ HA ]
Bubble Bath
[ HA ]
Hero Arts Bubble Bath Frame Cuts
[ HA ]
Lounging Pups
[ HA ]
Hero Arts Lounging Pups Frame Cuts
[ HA ]
Hero Arts Bird House Fancy Die
[ HA ]
Hero Arts State-cation Bold Prints
[ HA ]
Hero Arts Pool Party Bold Prints
[ HA ]
Hero Arts T-Shirt Infinity Dies
[ HA ]
Hero Arts Onesie Infinity Dies
[ HA ]
AF423 Lemon Drop Reactive Ink - Hero...
[ HA ]
AF426 Pool Party Reactive Ink - Hero...
[ HA ]
AF332 Caramel Bold Ink - Hero Arts
[ HA ]
Electro Pop Ink Pads- Set of 8 - Gina...
[ GNK ]
PS772 Classic Vellum Layering Paper...
[ HA ]
Inkadinkado Masking Paper
[ SSS ]
Amazon.com : Post-it 658 Labeling &...
[ AMZUS ]
Plus VELLUM ADHESIVE Double Sided...
[ SSS ]
Life Changing Blender Brushes: 4-Pack...
[ PFS ]
Pre-Cut & Scored Cardstock
[ CTC ]
Art Anthology BIG CRAFT MAT 24x36 311473
[ SSS ]
Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White
[ GNK ]
MISTI Stamping Tool
[ MSP | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT | UNT ]
Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -...
[ BLIC ]
LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for...
[ BRG ]
Crafter's Companion GEMINI...
[ SSS ]
Scor-Pal MINI SCOR-BUDDY Scoring...
[ SSS ]
Essentials by Ellen Storage...
[ ELH ]
Die Storage - Clear Storage Pockets...
[ CHC ]
XL Stamp Storage Pockets
[ ELH ]
Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045
[ SSS | CST ]
Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies
[ ART ]
Hero Arts Blog
[ HA ]


Loveyameanitbye. 

CURRENT COUPON CODES
15% off anything at Marker Universe or any of their other sites - Understandblue15.
10% off the whole store at A Colorful Life Designs - LydiaFan10
5% off at LBC here with code LYDIA5
Phone stand for filming link below in the banner - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE

63 comments:

  1. Oh my! I think I want it all:) Love all of your cards.

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  2. I can see lots of additional items that I would LOVE to have for this kit!
    The staycation at home theme is perfect right now.
    Thanks for the tutorial, great cards!

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  3. Your cards are adorable! What an awesome collection, so well thought-out with this year's staycation in mind. The nested "Infinity"dies are genius and will be so useful for a long while.

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  4. Awesome cards, Lydia, especially that map card! So personal! I feel the same about never being bored at home. I'm the oldest of 12, (& I am old!), so had no tv or even a home phone to entertain ourselves. We always had fun tho!! I always love being home.

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  5. Love all of your truly wonderful and creative cards.

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  6. Great card ideas, Lydia! Love the Lemon and Pool together! Now to choose this months add-ons!

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  7. Your cards are awesome! So is this release!

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  8. Your greetings card is probably my favorite. I love the kraft paper with the map. It gives it a cool vintage feel.

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  9. Love all the cards and the vibrant colors. I'm with you, I prefer to stay home. I grew up in the 50's when things were so different. Thanks for all the beautiful designs. Excited for my kit!

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  10. I love it all! Your cards are amazing and I love the masking tip! Thank you fo sharing!

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  11. Wonderful cards and I love the tips you gave about the masking, stamping and inking! Thanks for sharing your video with us!!

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  12. Great job on your cards I really like the tie die card because it's bright

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  13. The recycled atlas page card is my favorite!

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  14. cool cards like the tag one my fav!!

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  15. So much cuteness! Loving this new kit, reveal and inspiration!

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  16. I love your tie dye one! The map is sooooo cool too! WOW!!!!

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  17. I really like the tags. I NEED A VACATION!!

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  18. Nice use of the die for a focus map portion.

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  19. Great cards. Love the August card. This is also my birthday month and am collecting all the month dies. Love the tropical look of this one.

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  20. I loved all the cards, but my favorite was the USA card. Thanks for sharing.

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  21. Fantastic cards, love the kraft with the map, very cool!

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  22. Very cool cards and great tip, thanks!

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  23. I love the idea of a staycation stamp set, and the tie dye card is fun and bright!

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  24. Great bunch of
    cards and love
    the background
    stamps.
    Carla from Utah

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  25. Love you use of color love your ideas thanks for sharing!

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  26. I’m always amazed at the card designs that come out of the minds of you wonderful creators.

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  27. Your cards are amazing, as usual. Thank you for sharing.

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  28. Oh my gosh!!! My dad was also a map lover, and I have a bunch of his old maps! I L❤VE the way you used a portion of your dad's maps in the Map Nesting Dies! So creative, and you have brought nack warm memories of my dad. Thanks so much!!! 😄

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  29. Lydia----- I think I found a kindred spirit in you. You are so good with words. In reading your intro-- I, too, agree. Home is best. And I do hope the majority of people will be learning from this and that we will all be more caring of each other. Your cards are super. I am a map person. Forget the GPS-- they steer us wrong most of the time. I've used maps in card making also and love your idea. Thank you so much for your inspiration-- and I truly mean you inspired me with your thoughts and ideas.

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  30. This might be one of my favorite kits ever! I love all the images in the main kit, and the add-ons are so versatile as well. I'm a homebody who loves a stay-cation so this one gets a thumbs up!

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  31. Wow fabulous cards...really love the map card. So unique!

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  32. Lydia, that could have been me writing your post today! My favourite place to be, other than in or on the ocean, is our home. It is truly my sanctuary, as is our back yard which is huge & totally private as we are on a small acreage on a dead end road. It seems each stamp set in this release portrays part of my life. Reading maps & navigating is something I learned early in life too. Plus, August is my birth month. This one is my 65th - Eeek! How did I get here already?! lol I think your cards are Brilliant, not only in colour choices but design as well. I love this release!

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  33. FABULOUS cards, love your bright colors. And Happy August Birthday!!

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  34. All of your cards are so fun and unique! I love your masking and ink blending tips in your video!

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  35. Lydia, Lydia! Love your art! I like your backgrounds and especially your map application-very cleaver.

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  36. Squeeee!!! I love me some tie dye!!! Love most everything in this release, and really love your cards! You know the tie-dye just melted my heart even though there was no purple in it which is almost illegal and I'm pretty sure sinful LOL. Loved your cards especially the August word, and the one with the map. I saw Austin I have to go back and see Temple is on there that's where I'm at. And a huge thank you to Hero Arts who are just completely awesome anyways for the big giveaway! And I'm with you I'm a homebody and especially the last bunch of years because of some disability I don't get out much but even before that I was a homebody. So to me this is kind of normal. I must have the pandemic Gene also LOL

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  37. Love the variety of your cards. I like being at home, too. but I would like to get out and visit some friends!

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  38. As usual Hero Arts has knocked it out of the park. These are my favorite kits. They are always on point with their kits.They are always so different then most kits out there.

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  39. Great fun cards with these wonderful new images, Lydia!! Love your use of colour! Thanks so much for the great inspiration! Take care! :)

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  40. Such wonderful cards! So creative..
    Thanks so much for sharing.

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  41. Awesome kit, Awesome creations, I especially love your tie die card!

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  42. What wonderful cards, love this new kit from Hero Arts, perfect for these strange times we are in.

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  43. I love that technique with the hack. Thanks for sharing that. Of course all your cards are wonderful.

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  44. Great masking tip and creating the white border is definately a wonderful pop. Yup I too am in my happy place, I refer to myself as the perfect hermit. I love this MMH kit so much (my fav is the paws and tags). Using rpthecatlas is brilliant. Love these cards!

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  45. Wow, great designs Lydia! Love how you used so many of the kit images in the first card. Very creative!

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  46. I am getting back into after a long break. It's great to see all the cool techniques with the adorable Hero Arts stamps.

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  47. Lovely cards and what a great idea with the craft and white card stock tags. I'm also intrigued by ‘crime scene puzzles.’ Jigsaw puzzles? Kits? What are they?

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  48. Your cards are very different from the others in the hop. Very creative.

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  49. Wonderful, colorful, fun cards. I love the add-ons to the amazing kit!

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  50. Ooh! I love the tie dye card. Great use of stenciled background for the images on the first card. Beautiful!

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  51. What a great idea to color a few of the tags from the background and cut them out. That and the map are my favorite!

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  52. Great cards! I love the tie dye one!

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  53. Fabulous variety of stay-cation cards.

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  54. Ahh what a nice variety of cards! I like that tip about cutting off the little die pieces with the cloth. I have those piece that have flown off several times hiding somewhere across the room. I also like that tip about the masking. And...I also do not mind staying home for the most part.

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